Fishing in Hong Kong Part 2

Hello everyone. So lets continue on to my fishing adventures in Hong Kong.

These are the boats that will be taking us to the fishing place.

Some friends waiting for our boat to arrive.

A guy in a corner doing what he likes best!

A view from the docks. Tourists here can rent windsurfing equipment and enjoy other water sports!

As we were waiting, these little fans were being passed out. It was around Easter and traditionally the locals go visit and pay respect to their passed away loved ones on the islands. The graves are "Fung Shui" chosen on the different islands for the best resting place. The little fans are a reminder to put out the fire on the candles after paying respects.

And here we are off to the fishing grounds!

Nothing like being on a boat!

Here is one of the grave sites that I was talking about earlier.

And here we are arriving on the floating platforms. Looks just like the "carambas" we have here in Indonesia. The place reminded me of Nha Trang bay in Vietnam.

And here we are getting off the boat. Note our captain and host is a lady!

The place was really cool. People can rent these floating platforms on a daily basis to go fishing or just to have a family gathering. Pretty cool little hangout place!

And here is the toilet. Well what did you expect?
Some other fisher people relaxing on another platform.

Most of these floating platforms are used to grow out fish. Later I will have some pictures to show.

Our friends getting ready to set up the rods.

One thing I noticed about the fishing in Hong Kong is how the everything is kept neat. Every piece of tackle has a place of its own. And everything is compact and mobile. The guys really take care of their equipment. I can't say much for us fishermen in the US though. Most of us just throw our poles and equipment in the garage until it is used. Then we simply throw it in our pickup or the trunk and grab a bucket full of tangled tackle, or even that messy tackle box with all kinds of tangled lines! The fishermen in Hong Kong are very meticulous and tidy.

Check this out. So besides the normal spinning and level winds, these guys came up with this strange unique cool looking "hybrid" reel. I can say that it is a combination spinning and baitcast. And get this, this reel and the "special" rod is designed just for floating platform fishing. God forbid, no one dares to use regular equipment, although it would do the same.

And to go along with the special floating platform reel, is the special designed ultra light pole.

The back screws out and the rod is a telecopic type.

It has zillions of eyes and is ultra sensitive. By now, I figure out that we were not fishing for 200 pound tuna!

Bobber stoppers are a norm tool of the trade, although we seldom use this in the US.

Even the weight is special. These thin strips of lead are cut to the fishing conditions.

The trick is sensitivity. Bare minimum of weight to get your bait to the bottom. I got frustrated with my bait sinking too slow and put on more weight. Of course our fellow fishermen thought there is no way I can catch fish that way. They were right I didn't catch much, although the reason wasn't because of the weight though. You will see what happened on the next post.

So here we are, ready to drop my line down to the dark green water. I leaned over to the edge of the platform and saw some things growing on the sides of the floating drums that was holding up the floating dock. That blue thing in the picture is the plastic empty drum.

I leaned down and looked closer. Wow! There were all kinds of living things! From tunicates to mussels to even anemones!

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. On the next post, we will look more in detail of the life that I discovered on the sides of the floating drums. Also we start catching fish!

I've been in Sulawessi for the past week. I will be flying out to Bali later today and then off to East Java for more corals - mostly softies and sps!

Cheers,
Eddie